The Salary Calculator

Redesign of The Salary Calculator

by Admin

The Salary Calculator has been around since 2005 and although many new options have been added since then, the site has never had a complete redesign – until now. Working with designer Dan Gallagher-Cowley, the site has been given a refresh and a much more modern look.

All the same options are there for you to personalise your tax calculations, but laid out in a way which we hope will be easier to use and less daunting for visitors who are unfamiliar with all the terminology. One big change is that you enter all of your details first, and then see the results on the next page (instead of the results being side-by-side with the options) – once you get the results, you can scroll down to modify the options and re-calculate if you wish. I know a lot of people liked the side-by-side layout, but unfortunately I was running out of space for options and this new design gives much more space to add new features. For example, it has now been possible to add auto-enrolment pensions.

The new design also works on mobile devices, so I have removed the dedicated mobile version of the site (which only had a couple of pages, and was missing some options) – mobile users can now use every page of the site and will get new features as soon as they are available on the main site.

I’m going to keep experimenting with the design and continue to make changes to try to optimise the experience of users on the site. I know there will be some who preferred the old version of the site but I hope most of you will find the new site easier to use! Try out the new-look Salary Calculator.

Tags: redesign, The Salary Calculator, update

7 Comments to Redesign of The Salary Calculator

1. 

   Loved the old design, simple, quick and efficient. Not enjoying the new design at all, seems bloated, too big and a huge step backwards. Would it be possible to have an option to toggle the efficient layout back on?
Joe Tuttle on April 20th, 2018
2. 

   Hi Joe,
   I’m sorry you’re not getting on with the new design! I’ve had experience in the past of trying to maintain two versions of a site (e.g. old and new) and it leads to problems – making a change to one breaks the other and vice versa – so I won’t be able to have a toggle, I’m afraid. Could you tell me what you mean by the new design being too big? Do you mean the size of the text? One of the problems with the old site was that the options were cramped and I had no space to add to them – this was one of the main reasons behind the new design. Thanks!
admin on April 20th, 2018
3. 

   Cannot see where it accounts for repayment of child benefit for those in that band.
John on August 8th, 2018
4. 

   Hi John,

   The “High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge” is paid through your Self Assessment tax return, not through deductions from your salary. The Salary Calculator only handles deductions from salary, so it does not appear. More information is available on Gov.Uk, including a calculator to see if you are affected by the charge: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge
admin on August 8th, 2018
5. 

   Hi, the take home figure is low when I compare with my pay slip. I.e. It’s not the sum of gross less pension plus taxable benefit less tax less NI.

   Am I missing something?
Jeremy on September 11th, 2018
6. 

   Hi Jeremy,
   Without knowing the details of your payslip I couldn’t say for sure, but since you mention the taxable benefit then I imagine that’s where the difference lies. You don’t receive a taxable benefit in the form of extra cash in your payslip, rather it is some “benefit in kind” which you receive on top of your salary but on which tax is due, e.g. private health insurance.
   So the amount you enter into the taxable benefit field is not added to the gross as you describe – you just receive the gross salary, less pension, tax and NI. The taxable benefit is separate (like private health insurance), but the tax on your salary will be higher to compensate for it.
   n.b. Since you pay more tax when you receive a taxable benefit but don’t receive a correspondingly higher salary, the amount you take home will normally go down when you start receiving a taxable benefit. This can catch some people by surprise, but the Salary Calculator does show you the total value of your salary plus the benefit in a message above the results, so hopefully it is clear that the total value of the package goes up.
   I hope this helps!
admin on September 11th, 2018
7. 

   Thanks for this redisgn. Its very effective.
Odhikar on November 15th, 2018

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